The vibrant involvement of undergraduates with research experiences is an aspect of academic training for which North Carolina A & T State University (NC A&T) is becoming increasingly recognized. This application for a T24 MARC renewal (type 2) training grant requests support to enable a greater number of competitive students at our institution to pursue and succeed in PhD programs in the biomedical sciences. The specific aim of this proposal is to increase the number of underrepresented minority students (URMS) who are well-trained and motivated to earn doctoral degrees in the biomedical sciences and pursue a biomedical research career. This application for renewal builds on the lessons learned from our current MARC program's successes and failures, and presents new and innovative strategies to bolster our pipeline of undergraduate minorities succeeding in PhD programs. The proposal goals are to: 1) Enhance the pool of STEM honor students at NC A&T inspired and willing to pursue research and careers in the biomedical sciences, 2) Ensure that 90% of students selected as MARC USTAR scholars are academically competitive, highly motivated and capable of earning a PhD in biomedical science after two years of training, and 3) Annually, attain an 80% acceptance rate of MARC U-STAR scholars into biomedical PhD programs. Developmental activities include: a) strategic recruitment and marketing activities to increase the pool of STEM honor URMS in the biomedical pipeline, b) Biomedical Living Learning Community, c) Community College PreMARC research training, d) Supplemental Instruction for Excellence in Science, e) Pre-Internship Prep Program, f) Summer and Academic Year Internships, g) Thematic Seminar Series, h) Professional Development and Self-Marketing Activities and i) Scientific Communication Activities. This project will contribute to the development of a well-trained and educated diversified workforce to provide better knowledge and approaches to reducing health disparities that constitute a major national public health problem. The impact of effective URMS research training addresses essential challenges of both economic growth and public health of the nation.